Honey is a natural product with multiple health benefits. The paper presents the chemical characterization and the antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of ten types of honey (knotweed, linden, wild cherry, acacia, honeydew, oilseed rape, sunflower, phacelia, plain polyflora and hill polyflora) from the Banat region, Romania. We studied the water content, dry matter, impurities, acidity and pH of honey. We also determined the content of reducing sugar, minerals and flavonoids and the total phenolic content. All honey samples analysed showed good nutritional characteristics according to the standard codex for honey. From the analysis of the mineral content of the honey samples, we observed a variability in the macro and microminerals, influenced by the botanical origin, ranging between 0.25% (wild cherry honey) and 0.54% (honeydew). The toxic metals’ (Cd and Pb) levels met the standard for almost all samples analysed except for knotweed. The flavonoid content of the samples ranged from 9.29 mg QE/100 g for wild cherry honey to 263.86 mg QE/100 g for linden honey, and for polyphenols between 177.6 mgGAE/100 g for acacia honey and 1159.3 mgGAE/100 g for honeydew. The best antioxidant capacity was registered in the case of linden honey (79.89%) and honeydew (79.20%) and the weakest in acacia (41.88%) and wild cherries (50.4%). All studied honey samples showed antimicrobial activity, depending on the type of honey, concentration and strain analysed. The novelty of this study is given by the complex approach of the study of honey quality, both from the perspective of chemical attributes and the evaluation of the antimicrobial potential on specific strains in correlation with the botanical and geographical origin of the analyzed area.

Bee products have a millennia-old tradition in human apitherapy, thanks to their numerous curative properties. The aim of this study was to perform a physicochemical characterization, including the percentage of water content, dry matter, pH, acidity, impurity content, protein, ash, and macro and micro minerals, and to evaluate the antioxidant activity of apiculture products, including apilarnil, royal jelly, and propolis. Samples were collected from our apiary in the Banat region of Romania in 2022 as well as from the market. Apilarnil and royal jelly were analyzed in pure and freeze-dried form, and propolis in pure and tincture form. Our results show that there is a large variability in the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of the three bee products studied, depending on the form of presentation and source of origin. In the case of commercial bee products, the best results were obtained in terms of chemical composition, including the content of macro and micro nutrients. All the samples analyzed showed acidity, pH, and impurity content values within the limits allowed by the quality standards. Apilarnil from our own apiary recorded the highest values for antioxidant activity, followed by propolis tincture and fresh propolis from own apiary.

The quantity and quality of the honey bee drone semen have a significant determination on the performance of bee colonies. The existence of a smaller number of mature drones to participate in the mating of queens, as well as a sufficient number of drones but with poor quality semen can have serious implications for the productivity of bee colonies. Our study aimed to investigate the correlation between two body weight ranges of drones and semen parameters in the Buckfast honey bee, data that could be integrated into the optimization of instrumental insemination in been queens. Semen was collected from two groups of drones with different body weights (200–240 mg and 240–280 mg). Semen volume, semen concentration, motility, morphology and membrane integrity of spermatozoa were analyzed. The phenotype indicator related to body weight in correlation with the main semen parameters studied gives a weak influence or causality ratio. In drones with 240–280 mg body weight, a higher percentage of spermatozoa with abnormal morphology (>9.60%) was recorded, compared to drones with 200–240 mg body weight. The study reveals that a higher weight of honey bee drones is correlated with higher sperm concentration and total number of spermatozoa/ejaculate, with an increase in the percentage of spermatozoa with abnormal morphology.

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of lameness on nitrogen (N) metabolism and excretion. Two treatment groups of 20 multiparous Holstein–Friesian dairy cows were included in study; the control group consisted of cows with locomotion score ≤2, while the experimental group consisted of cows with locomotion scores 3 and 4. Fodder, milk, feces, and urine were collected to determine nitrogen emissions. The milk yield, the energy-corrected milk, the fat and protein yield were higher for lame animals compare with non-lame cows. Differences were also detected in the milk urea nitrogen (MUN) between groups where lame cows had a 15% lower MUN than non-lame animals. Urine volume was lower (p < 0.008), while urinary creatinine concentration was higher (p < 0.05) in lame animals compare with those in the non-lame group. Consequently, the creatinine/urea ratio was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the lame vs. no-lame animals. Nitrogen excretion in milk was higher (p = 0.008) and N in urine was lower (p < 0.001) in the lame compared to non-lame cows with lower urinary N emissions in lame animals. Taken together, our results show that urinary creatinine concentration and urinary creatinine/urea ratio have the potential to be used as a tool for lameness detection.

Bee venom is a complex natural beekeeping product, traditionally used in apitherapy, with a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties. Research on the mineral content of bee venom is limited and challenging to compare across studies due to the varying regions where they are conducted. Our study aimed to assess the mineral content of bee venom and how supplementary feeding of bee colonies with probiotic products, essential oils, as well as rapeseed and acacia nectar and pollen, affects the mineral content and antioxidant activity of the venom. The parameters analyzed included moisture, pH, dry matter, ash, impurities, and levels of macro and micro elements and antioxidant activity. The moisture content of the samples was 10–22%, and pH ranged between 5.84 to 6.41. The macro element content of the venom showed that potassium was the most abundant macro element, followed by calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Pb was identified in samples collected indicating lead pollution in the area where the hives were located in the case of the three harvests. In all samples, the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity was observed at a concentration of 2.00 mg/mL, with sample V6 showing the maximum value of 87.05%.

Essential oils (EOs) have gained recognition as promising alternatives to antibiotics due to their positive effects on bird growth performance, enhanced meat quality, and improved overall health, without producing the negative consequences associated with antibiotics. This study evaluated the effects of dietary supplementation of tea tree (TTEO) and thyme (TEO) EOs, individually or in combination with the probiotic BioPlus 2b (Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis), on poultry broiler performance, including the meat quality. A total of 240 ROSS 308 broilers were assigned to eight dietary treatments over a 35-day trial. Parameters such as body weight (BW), feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcass portion, drip loss, and meat pH were evaluated. TTEO had a significant (p ≤ 0.05) impact on final carcass and breast portion, while in combination with probiotics, specifically TTEO with BioPlus significantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced meat drip loss. GC-MS analysis identified terpinen-4-ol and γ-terpinene as the major constituents of TTEO, and thymol and carvacrol as the major constituents of TEO. In conclusion, combinations of TTEO, TEO, and probiotics can have beneficial effects on chicken raw meat quality, providing a complementary benefit to the industry and representing a viable alternative to conventional agents.